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In terms of safety I'd say anything after 1998 is reasonably safe; that's when airbags became mandatory. ABS did not become mandatory until 2011 interestingly enough, although most decent cars had it starting in the early 1990s.
Good example, I drove my son's car to work today. It is a true beater he paid about $800 for it. You cannot open the drivers window because it will not go back up and you cannot use the air conditioning because it will blow exhaust from an exhaust leak into the cabin, but you can open the other three windows. The engine makes odd noises (probably a bad bearing on a belt pulley, it has for a couple of years. The gear synchros are bad in 1,2, and 3 so you grind a bit when shifting. The exhaust is so loud you would not be able to hear the radio if it worked. It is not pretty, it has dents and rust and the front grill is missing. Still, it was $800. It goes 80 mph comfortably traverses the state between home and school on a somewhat regular basis. It gets him around town at school, and so far no girl has looked at it and cancelled a date (that I know of). The only repair so far was new brake lines. New brakes and shocks too, and one tire but that is just maintenance. He has had the car for 2 or 3 years and has put over 40,000 miles on it. When something bad breaks, we will scrap it and get $80 - $400 depending on the market for scrap at the time. Kinda hard to beat that cost per mile.
Yep, bang on. I've bought plenty of true beaters from $100 to about $600, averaging $300-500, with one outlier at $1300 (a fairly nice Lincoln Continental). I fix a few minor issues, make sure tires and brakes are up to snuff and then I drive the shnit out of them for 3-5 years or so. Make sure that plugs, wires, cap and batt are good and they always start, except for the occasional starter failure that is easily rectified. I don't even bother changing the oil, just keep adding if it's using/leaking it.
I'll put 50-100k on a clunker and when it gets to needing something major I sell it for scrap and get another. No payments, low excise taxes, low insurance cost and if somebody smacks it I don't care as long as it will still run and drive and pass inspection...and I'll collect a few extra bucks off the other guy's insurance and I'm ahead of the game.
I don't need to try to 'keep up with the Joneses' and drive a new Beemer or whatever. As long as my POS gets me from point A to point B (preferably with a working heater in Winter) I'm happy as a pig in mud.
(I did spend a little more on the last 2 vehicles though, because we needed 4WDs and the wife needed something more reliable for driving by herself 800+ miles for her cancer treatments, and I had to have something solid for plowing and farm chores.)
I have driven two beaters and dealt with the problems that come along with them despite regular maintenance and access to reliable mechanics. Last year I bought a 2013 Hyundai Elantra that had 34K miles for $13K. I drive 100 miles round trip each day and needed something newer, more reliable, and more comfortable (neither of my previous cars had working A/C). It it definitely worth the car payment and peace of mind considering all the driving that I do.
Not going to stop me from buying an $800 craigslist mobile!
Same here, I grew up with the motto that two used cars save more money that one new car with about the same dependability factor. If one car was down, drive the other and repair the first, then vice versa.
It’s classic personal finance advice: Buy used and let some other sucker pay the new car premium. So if buying a two year old car, used/certified preowned/whatever, will save you money then buying a four year old car should save you more, right? True. Then, buying an eight year old car will save you even more right? Umm… true. Then why not buy a sixteen year old car?
Guess then buying that 64 and a 1/2 Mustang was a real bonehead mistakes right?
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I have a friend who lived near Washington, DC who bought one of these years ago and is now driving around a year 2001 Honda. Over the years he's been alternating between driving that car and renting a car for his frequent visits to his elderly mother in the New York area.
While driving from New York to the Washington area for a barbecue with powerful people it overheated. So he missed an important gathering. That's the risk you take.
Tonight the last few blocks a guy followed me home from church, he wanted to buy my 98 Integra GSR. He looked like a nice guy but I do worry about it getting stolen. I think the kids have moved on to later model stuff but my car was the most stolen of all at one time.
My heirs may have to dispose of this car.
Our poor daughter...she was going to have her choice in cars, and then we saw the insurance rates for a first time teenage driver....now I'm hanging on to an old car just for her.
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